The Eagles are saddened to learn of the passing of former All-Pro tight end Charle Young. He was 75 years old.
Born in Fresno, California, Young won a National Championship at USC as a senior and then was the Eagles' second first-round pick (No. 6 overall, three spots after offensive tackle Jerry Sisemore) in the 1973 NFL Draft.
Young wasted no time making an impact, as he earned Pro Bowl honors in each of his first three seasons in Philadelphia. As a rookie, Young had 55 receptions for a career-high 854 yards and six touchdowns, earning first-team All-Pro recognition and finishing as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award. The 854 receiving yards were at the time an Eagles rookie record, regardless of position.
"For me, coming from California, Philadelphia was on the other side of the world," Young said in a 2017 interview when he was the Honorary Captain for the Eagles' win over the 49ers, a team in which he won a Super Bowl with later in his career. "And back in those days, there were only three television stations, and I wanted my parents to know that I was doing well. That's why I had to make a statement."
Young spent four seasons in Philadelphia. No Eagle has made more Pro Bowls at the tight end position in franchise history than Young, who is tied with Zach Ertz, Chad Lewis, and Keith Jackson with three. As an Eagle, Young amassed 197 catches for 2,583 yards and 12 touchdowns.
His Philadelphia tenure ended when he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams as part of a deal to acquire quarterback Ron Jaworski. Young spent the rest of his career on the West Coast, playing three seasons for the Rams, three for the 49ers, and three with the Seahawks. He played in a pair of Super Bowls and won one with the 49ers in 1981. He finished his 13-year career with 418 receptions for 5,106 yards and 27 touchdowns. At the time of his retirement, Young ranked seventh all time among NFL tight ends in receptions and 11th in receiving yards.
"One of my fondest memories (from my time with the Eagles) is the camaraderie that we had on that team," Young said. "There were guys like Roman Gabriel, and you had all the guys that came in with me – Jerry Sisemore, Guy Morriss, Randy Logan, Will Wynn, Joe Lavender, and a plethora of other people. All of those came in from a winning program."
Following his playing career, Young opened a learning center for at-risk youth in Seattle.
"The center that I started was to change young people's attitudes," he said. "A lot of times, it is their environment that they're in and the environment is a negative environment. Most people look at it and they blame them. It is not their fault that they're in that environment. If you change the environment, you change the person's thought pattern. If you change their thought pattern, you change their actions. If you change their actions, then they will improve."
